Design and fabrication of a screw-type compost turning mechanism.

Date

4-2013

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering

Major Course

Major in Agricultural Power and Machinery Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Fajardo, Arthur L.

Committee Member

Gallegos, Ralph Kristoffer B. Amongo, Rossana Marie C.

Restrictions

Restricted: Not available to the general public and to those bound by the confidentiality agreement. Access is available only after consultation with author/thesis adviser.

Abstract

Composting is an alternative source of soil nutrients and waste management strategy. It involves series of steps including turning that promotes aeration and dictates the quality of the product. Traditional manual turning id labor-intensive, becoming the problem in attaining optimum turning frequency. This was addressed through mechanization. Three screw-type compost turning mechanism (10, 12.5, 16.67 cm pitch Design) were designed, fabricated and tested at different drum speeds (150, 300, 450rpm and different pile conditions (wet and dry). Ratio of turned and unturned compost materials and their percent difference were used to evaluate the consistency and distribution caused by turning. Performance under wet pile condition, where turning is relatively harder due to increased moisture content and viscosity of materials, was considered in choosing pitch and drum speed combination. Under this condition, 12.5-cm pitch (150rpm) exhibited lowest percent difference (6.82%). However, statistical analysis (ANOVA at 10% level of significance), showed that pitch and drum speed has insignificant effect to compost consistency. The 10.cm pitch at drum speed of 150 rpm with 9.45% difference (slightly higher than 12.5-cm pitch) was considered. This also addresses turning for dry pile (10-cm pitch at 300rpm, 6.47% difference) by just varying the drum speed since it is easier to vary drum speed than pitch design. Furthermore, effects of other component parts like drum hood and rear cover should be considered since it could affect mixing of materials during the turning process.

Language

English

Location

UPLB College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology

Call Number

LG 993.5 2013 A2 S25

Document Type

Thesis

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